WASHINGTON (AP) – Will President Joe Biden grant sweeping pardons to officials and allies the White House fears could be unfairly targeted by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration? Please, I’m considering it. Extraordinary constitutional powers.
Deliberations so far have mainly taken place at the White House lawyer level. But Mr. Biden himself has also discussed the issue with some senior aides, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss the sensitive issue. No decisions have been made and Biden could choose to do nothing, the people said.
Pardons have historically been granted to people accused of certain crimes, usually those who have already been convicted, but Biden’s team also wants to grant clemency to people who have not been charged or even investigated. We are considering. They will draw up an enemy list and launch investigations that Trump and his allies, who have boasted of imposing harsh “retribution,” will result in reputational and financial costs for their targets, even if they do not lead to indictments. I am concerned that this is a possibility.
The president’s pardon power is absolute, but if Mr. Biden were to exercise it in this way, it would greatly expand the ways in which he could use it, and some Biden aides believe that it is setting the stage for an even bolder use of the power by President Trump. I am concerned that this will lead to the construction of They also worry that issuing a pardon will affect President Trump and his allies’ claims that individuals have committed acts that require immunity.
Winners could include Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who fought the coronavirus pandemic and became a pariah among conservatives angry about mask mandates and vaccines. Others include witnesses in President Trump’s criminal and civil trials and Biden administration officials who have drawn the ire of the president-elect and his allies.
Some frightened former officials are proactively reaching out to President Biden to seek some protection from a future Trump administration, one of the people said.
This follows Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter, which pardons him not only for his federal gun and tax convictions, but also for any possible federal crimes he committed over an 11-year period. was concerned that Trump’s allies might try to prosecute his son for a crime. Other crimes. This could serve as a model for other pardons Biden might grant to people who might be in legal jeopardy under the Trump administration.
Biden is not the first to consider such a pardon. Trump aides consider pardons for Biden and his supporters seeking to overturn the failed 2020 presidential election that led to the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 did. This is President Trump’s first pardon since he did not receive one until he left office nearly four years ago.
In 1974, Gerald Ford granted his predecessor Richard Nixon a “complete, gratuitous, absolute pardon” for the Watergate scandal. As written in his pardon proclamation, he said a trial would “concern the merits of subjecting a person who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elected office in the United States to further punishment and degradation.” “I thought it would spark a long and divisive debate.”
Politico first reported that Biden was considering using preemptive pardons.
During the campaign, Trump made no secret of his desire to prosecute and take revenge on those who betrayed him.
Trump spoke of the “enemy from within” and spread social media posts calling for the jailing of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Sens. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. . He also focused on former Rep. Liz Cheney, a conservative Republican who campaigned for Harris and cooperated with the January 6 investigation, and also highlighted social media reports suggesting she wanted a military tribunal for treason. Promoted media posts.
Kash Patel, President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, has named dozens of former government officials he would like to replace.
Richard Painter, a Trump critic who served as the top White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, says Biden will grant blanket pardons to potential targets of the Trump administration. He said he would reluctantly support it. He said he hoped this would encourage the next president to “go back to a clean slate” and focus on governing rather than punishing political allies.
“It’s not an ideal situation at all,” Painter said. “There are so many bad choices facing us at the moment.”
The Supreme Court ruled this year that presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for actions deemed official, but no such shield is afforded to the president’s aides and allies. Some fear that President Trump will use the promise of a full pardon to encourage allies to take actions they may resist for fear of breaking the law.
“There is a chance that there will be some obvious misconduct over the next four years, but the president could pardon the people before he leaves office,” Painter said. “But if he’s going to do it, he’s going to do it anyway, regardless of what Biden does.”
The White House says Biden expects to add more traditional pardons for sentencing disparities for people convicted of federal crimes by the end of the year.
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